Pope Francis is expected to make his first trip to the U.S. as pontiff next year, and many local Catholics were thrilled to hear Philadelphia is likely on his itinerary.

A visit by Francis for the World Meeting of Families would be the first papal trip to the U.S. since Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Washington, D.C., and New York in April 2008.

"Any papal visit to America is cause for celebration," said Bob Krebs, spokesman for the 12-county Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, which includes Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

"The fact that Pope Francis' first trip to the U.S. will bring him so close to our diocese is extraordinarily exciting. Over the past year, the world has come to love and admire this humble pope," Krebs said.

Francis has accepted Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput's invitation to take part in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September 2015, according to the church-owned Catholic News Service. "Pope Francis has told me that he is coming," Chaput said during a Mass in Fargo, N.D., according to CNS.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Friday it doesn't expect the official word on Francis' visit until six months prior to the journey, but Chaput "has frequently shared his confidence in Pope Francis' attendance at the World Meeting, and his personal conversations with the Holy Father are the foundation for that confidence."

The Vatican released a statement saying Francis is "carefully considering" several invitations, and that he's willing to participate in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia; however, "at the present moment, there are no concrete plans or programs for any visits to the United States or Mexico."

Pope Benedict announced two years ago that Philadelphia would host the 2015 World Meeting of Families. At the time, Benedict said he looked forward to meeting the region's Catholics.

Chaput traveled with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter to Rome in March to officially invite Francis to attend. The triennial World Meeting was last held in Milan, Italy, in June 2012.

The last papal visit to the City of Brotherly Love was by Pope John Paul II in October 1979. "I'm old enough that I remember that. It was a tremendous outpouring of faith at that point because everyone wanted to see him and be near him," said Joe Schulcz, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Wilmington.

"Pope Francis is a very different type of individual from Pope John Paul," Schulcz said. "A lot of people have been praying that he does come, because it would be a tremendous asset to all their efforts. He's more open. He's more of a people person. I think he sees kind of a different direction [for the Church] than others, and he's heading that way. Which is all very positive."

Some see Francis' papacy as a resurrection of the Roman Catholic Church, staggered as it's been by more than a decade of the clerical sexual-abuse scandal and coverup. Lawsuits revealed previously secret documents and put some dioceses in bankruptcy court, including the Diocese of Wilmington. The pope's approach to victims, the poor, and the marginalized has revived hope for many.

"Resurrection is an apt analogy. It is a resurrection experience," said the Rev. Thomas Flowers, pastor at St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Smyrna.

"Sin is death. That's what we teach theologically," Flowers said. "Dishonesty is death. Disappointment in someone you look up to is death. Feeling someone covered up wrong – that's a death experience. People now have hope who didn't have hope. People have started coming back."

Brother Ronald Giannone, a Capuchin friar, said Francis has boosted church attendance and "led people to reflect on the sacred."

"His humility, and his manner of being very down to earth, and embracing the marginalized has really won the hearts of many," said Giannone, founder and executive director of the community-based Ministry of Caring, which serves the poor and homeless in Wilmington.

"His nature is that he's very informal. He doesn't like pomp. He appeals to the average person," Giannone said. "He's won the hearts of not only Catholics, but of many people. People always tell me, 'Oh, I love your pope.' Like Mother Teresa was universally accepted by the world, Pope Francis is universally accepted by the world – Christian and non-Christian."

Giannone recalled attending a 1979 Mass by John Paul at the Civic Center in Philadelphia. "He just had a way about him that's very endearing. He was a very charismatic figure. That's why I'm looking forward to meeting Pope Francis," Giannone said.